Udine public prosecutor Antonio De Nicolo told state broadcaster Rai in a radio interview that an autopsy would be carried out on Tuesday.

"We have a duty to ascertain whether Astori's death was a tragic fatality of if someone knew something", he continued, in an interview with ANSA.

According to state officials in Udine, Astori suffered "cardiac arrest by natural causes" and was discovered after he did not attend the team breakfast Sunday morning. "For now, the charge is made against unknown persons and we have arranged the autopsy to take place shortly".

Fiorentina's game against Udinese was postponed, as were all other Serie A games across Italy on Sunday.

Astori, capped 14 times, joined the Milan youth academy and played for Cagliari and Roma before moving on loan to Fiorentina in 2015 and signing a long-term contract in 2016.

A host of people, thankfully, tweeted the issue as a cause for concern and demanded EA Sports to designate all the Astori cards as untradeable or make them special cards.

Davide Astori was born in Bergamo and played for local team Pontisola before joining AC Milan in 2006. The city of Florence, where the club is based, has declared a day of mourning to mark his passing. "He was only 31 and it's very hard to explain this situation".

Radja Nainggolan, Astori's former Cagliari teammate wrote on Instagram: "A great player, but even more than that, a great person".

The football world was rocked on Sunday as news broke that the 31-year-old defender had died in his sleep overnight.

Italy, who failed to qualify for the World Cup, are due to face England in a friendly at Wembley later this month.

The Fiorentina staff became anxious when Astori, who was married with a daughter, did not join his team mates for breakfast at around 9.30 a.m. local time, club spokesman Arturo Mastronardi told reporters outside the hotel.

Beyond football's walls, former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who was born and raised in Florence, was stunned and saddened by the news. I don't believe it and I cry with the family and everyone at Fiorentina.

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